


Teruhi

by GARFIELD_MY_LASAGNA



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Brotherhood, Developing Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Murder Mystery, Romance, Smut, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 01:26:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13870146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GARFIELD_MY_LASAGNA/pseuds/GARFIELD_MY_LASAGNA
Summary: This story stars a new character: Teruhi. A lonely yokai vigilante. She's a strong woman whose life work is protecting children and women (whether they be human or yokai) from rape, abuse, and murder. What happens when she meets Sesshomaru and romance buds?





	Teruhi

Chapter One

 

Do you know what it’s like to be completely and totally alone? I started out in this world surrounded by family. But one by one they slipped away from me. Sometimes I'm shocked by how long i can go without saying a single word to anybody. I seek out friends and company when I can, but who can you really trust in this world? I guess that’s why i do what i do... fight who i do. Take out my rage on scum and try to save kids from the same fate i endured. 

When I first met Inuyasha I saw something of myself in him. He was lonely. His girl was gone and he didn't know if she was ever coming back. He kicked around his village aimlessly, helping out humans and the weak when he could. We shared that vigilante style. His half breed status also drew me to him, he was a mutt like me, albeit a different kind. What made me start following him around though was what he had what I didn't- friends. He was lonely while surrounded by others. I was lonely surrounded by none. He had friends and a community to support him, and at least one living relative who did not completely despise him. I wanted that. So we became friends. We bummed around the village together, fought monsters, fought each other, pranked humans, got drunk. I may have been somewhat of a bad influence on him. But in that brief period we were both getting just what we needed. I knew that the situation was temporary though. Something always breaks, tears, ends.

The changing moment in this relationship was probably when I first saw Sesshomaru. We were laying on the roof of a farmhouse staring up at the night sky, arguing about turnips and naming stars when he flew overhead. We both fell silent. A feeling like i’ve never felt before surged through my body, from my head to my toes. what can I call it without being too cheesy? Well, instant attraction. He was white and silver and glimmered in the moonlight. He looked down at us, at me. Our eyes met. His were golden. He went into the village. After a flush of silence I asked, "who was that?"

InuYasha shrugged and folded his arms."My brother, Sesshomaru." He had told me about him before. He was a pretty open book after a few drinks. Not me.

"Ah,” I said. “I can see the resemblance." InuYasha shrugged again and closed his eyes. I could sense he was not amused, troubled even by that teeny amount of interest that I showed in his brother. I wanted to leave, to go spy on Sesshomaru. But I couldn't leave InuYasha like that. He would know what I was up to. I didn't want him to. 

As luck would have it he would find me the next day. I was washing Sango’s cauldron out in the river. The very one she had made the gyudon I insisted on the day before. I provided the beef- an entire cow actually, so she couldn’t quite refuse. So there I was, scrubbing that pot, singing a song, and splashing my feet, when I sensed somebody watching me. Has there ever been a more cliche meeting place between girl and boy? The local watering hole. His scent grew nearer and I looked over to where he was, hidden in the trees, and looked away quickly. I wanted to let him know that I knew he was there... and that I didn’t care. I scrubbed the pot a little slower, sang a little sweeter, brushed back my hair seductively and smiled. When I couldn’t possibly scrub that pot anymore I sashayed away back to the village. Maybe it’s not a first encounter worth writing home about. But it kept me smiling for days. 

When Kagome came back through the well, I left the village. I'm trouble and I know it. Even though the relationship between InuYasha and I was innocent, suspicions were high. That time had been a vacation for me from lonesome wanders and a life of fruitless crusades. My cause has always been protecting children- girl childs in particular. Demon and human. If a demon is snatching away all the children from a human village, i'll be there. Serial rapist on the loose? I'll rip his goddamn throat out. I don't do it for the pay, the rewards, sacrifices or praise; although i get plenty of those. I'll take thanks and relief just the same. I'm not the strongest yokai, or the smartest. But no one else is doing this. No one else cares about these lives. The weakest of the weak. I'll protect them. As long as i'm compelled to do it, and there's need, i'll do it. 

 

Chapter Two

Not long after leaving the village of Kaede I caught wind of a case in a mountain town in the southeast. Apparently young girls were disappearing. First human, then yokai. An old demon named Tensei owned a pension there catering to families of elite demon clans. The loss of human girls were unremarkable. But the loss of even low-class yokai kids were enough to scare away business. Tensei wanted this situation taken care of quietly and cleanly. That's where I come in. 

My symbiont in these matters is a marten-youkai named Iga, whom i met after burning a large chunk of forest to the ground during an embarrassingly angsty period of my youth. Taking pity on a fellow fire elemental, Iga taught me to better control my flames. Don't mistake his charity for pure kindness though. He saw my potential- my recklessness, my self-righteousness, and yes my all consuming fire- and saw an opportunity for personal gains. Iga is as much a swindler as he is a charity worker. According to him, working on both sides makes the most fiscal sense. 

Our paths aligned just after sunset at most north-west corner of the mountain base, under the shoji temple. When i got close Iga welcomed me with his familiar leering whistle. 

"Good gods" I said as he emerged from the bushes, "what are you wearing?" He was clothed in a sour green kimono which looked like puke against his mustard yellow fur. "what corpse did you pick that off of?" I further enquired.

"Kid, gimme a break here. This is real silk, don't hassle me. it feels good, it looks good. you're late. two days late. they don't make them like this anymore y'know? where the hell ya been?"

"Your hawk messenger was late. Said he narrowly missed getting shot down over the badlands."

"Bullshit, you believe that? That guy's a drunkard."

"You get what you pay for"

"Yeah yeah yeah, alright you ready to get down to business or what?" I offered up a shrug combined with a nod. 

"Alright, here's how this is going to go down,” says Iga, “Tensei-san here wants this problem gone and he wants it kept quiet. Apparently this is a  _ deeply _ embarrassing affair" he said, putting on a haughty air. "We'll go up to his pension now, through the servant quarters. He's willing to let you sleep and work out of those quarters by the way, but you cannot be seen or heard by guests. Common scum like us can't mingle with them hoity-toity, you know the drill. Alright, pull up your cloak and lets get going. This guy has got as much patience as a rabid tanuki and we're already late". 

I solemnly pulled my black hood over my head and allowed Iga to climb and latch onto my back. With his sharp furry body strapped onto me and my cloak covering us both, we are a mystery figure, a jumble of misshapen parts. Ogre or hunchbacked hag? Who knows. This cloak's scent-masking abilities are what makes it essential though. any cloak can visually…cloak. But this one, this one can mask scent. Put it on and no one can smell you, not even a youkai with the keenest nose. One's scent simply ceases to exist: you are rendered neutral to all but yourself. This cloak is my shield. More than my sword, this heirloom of my father's has been key to my survival. 

We take a back path through the thick forest up to the pension. A well-worn deer trail marked with all manner of hooves, claws, and paws. I walk slow and alert through the dusk, resolute to my new boss's desire for me to remain unseen while on his property. The servant entrance is easily identifiable when we reach the red and gold manor house. Servants enter where it smells of manure instead of orchids; garbage instead of sweet delicacies. Next to the stables, a nondescript door. After only a gentle rap on its soft wood, We are let in by an unhappy monkey. He beckons me to follow him with a painful looking neck gesture, and leads us through a maze of corridors and back tunnels. He stops to compose himself before opening the door to a lavish but simple office. 

"Presenting Lord Tensei" he announces bowing. "Lord Tensei, your guests have arrived." With that statement he deftly lets himself out and closes the door behind him. 

"Lord" Tensei is a tense, portly demon. His head, oily and raw looking, is burrowed in a stack of scrolls. For quite some time he seems to disregard our presence. Iga, who has slipped off my back, breathes in deeply through what i suspect is a thoroughly congested nose, making a horrible sound. Tensei raises his head to regard us. 

"So, you really are a girl", he states flatly.

"Surprise?"

"All the more reason for you not to interfere with my clientele. Are you really capable though? To take care of this once and for all?"

"Oy" says Iga taking a step forward, "I promised you a cleaner and here she is. Best I know, I swear it. She's meaner than she looks. A real killer. She don't do it? Don't pay her. But she'll get it done. you know it”.

"Very well” sighs Lord Tensei, “How do you go about this… cleaner?"

"It's pretty simple," I reply. "I comb the village. I find out everything there is to know about these disappearances. I find who's doing it, and I destroy them.” 

"Good good.. But don't have it traced back to me. The last thing i need is to be considered a saviour of humans and roadside youkai babies." he says with a scoff. I swallow all the sarcastic rebuttals that swarm into my mouth. I've dealt with this kind of man before. Not an impressively strong demon, just middle of the road. Made some impressive buddies and now he thinks he's better than his own mother. “You can stay in the servant quarters until the matter is dealt with”, Lord Tensei offers flatly. “But-- do not interact with my clients, do not enter the customer side of the pension!” 

“Lord Tensei, I can’t guarantee that... My investigation may require me to. There is a chance one of your clients knows something about the disappearances--”

“I certainly doubt that!” Lord Tensei interrupts. 

“BUT there is the possibility. With all due respect. If my investigation requires it....” Lord Tensei stares daggers at me. “ugh, I will try to approach the client outside of the hotel.. How about that?”

“Pension, not  _ hotel _ . And... Fine.” replies Lord Tensei while needlessly shuffling papers on his desk. “I think we’re done here.” 

“Right, ok...” I say backing towards the door.

“KASAI” shouts Lord Tenesi, making Iga and I jump and cover our ears. The monkey servant from earlier promptly bursts through the door. “Show these two to their room.”

“Eek” replies Kasai, and motions us to follow him. He showed us to a dismal, broom closet of a room. 

“Well,” said Iga, plopping down on a mat, “I’m ready to crash for the night”. 

“Do what you want,” I replied, “I’m going to the village to get started on this case.” 


End file.
